TN’s first generation entrepreneurs honored

Chennai, Sept. 18

The Confederation of Indian Industry honoured five distinguished first generation entrepreneurs in Tamil Nadu with its second edition of the ICCI-Venture-CII Entrepreneurship Awards on Monday.

The entrepreneurs have not only made their mark in the State, but also have contributed substantially to the country and the global ICT (information and communication technology) industry. Mr R. Srinivasan, Managing Director, Redington India Ltd, won the award for the best ‘Entrepreneur from Tamil Nadu who has succeeded in Tamil Nadu’. He attributed the success to his perseverance and perception of risk. He said he persisted in his business despite a leading venture capitalist turning down his business proposal. At the same time, another venture capitalist, who chose to invest in the business is being handsomely rewarded. “So, your perception of risk makes all the difference,” he said.

Ref : Business Line

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It is his ability to read the market in advance, to spot opportunities and go all out to pursue his dreams, which have helped R Srinivasan, Redington’s Managing Director to create an enterprise that is now among the largest end-to-end supply chain management companies in India.

An alumnus of IIM-Ahmedabad, Mr. Srinivasan followed the professional path for a few years in India, before moving to Indonesia and then Singapore, where he founded Redington in the early 1980s for specialized trade in personal computer components, focusing on the market in India and the Middle East. Mr. Srinivasan did not have the finances to start a business and hence gave substantial equity to a business group in Singapore – a decision he does not regret.

In 1993, he decided to set up Redington in Chennai to distribute IT products, just as liberalization had begun in India. Today, the company operates 98 service centers and has over 23,500 channel partners across the world. Its customers include over 75 leading manufacturers across IT, telecom, consumer and digital lifestyle products in India, Middle East and Africa.

Mr. Srinivasan is widely recognized for building a professionally-managed organization, with a strong focus on systems and processes, enabling the INR175 billion company to become highly efficient and also to attract good talent. Redington has also undertaken inorganic growth, acquiring Easyaccess Financial Services in January 2008 to become India’s first company to cater to the financial needs of IT product distributors. In 2010, it acquired a stake in Arena, Turkey’s second-largest IT distributor. Redington is seeking to expand further into newer geographies and product segments.

Mr. Srinivasan is also associated with the cause of education and promoting the performing arts.

Ref : EY Business News